ZEMCH 2019 International Conference Proceedings April.2020 | Page 324
Evaluation of The Visual Contact with The Outside
through Solar Shading Fabrics
Waldo Bustamante 1,2, *, Gilles Flamant 2 , Douglas Leonard 3 , Sergio Vera 2,4 , Felipe Encinas 1,2
School of Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, El Comendador 1916, Santiago, RM 7520245,
Chile
2 Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CEDEUS), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
3 School of Design, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, El Comendador 1916, Santiago, RM 7520245,
Chile
4 Department of Construction Engineering and Management, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad
Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, RM 7820436, Chile
* Correspondence: [email protected]
1
Abstract: Solar shading devices are essential for ensuring thermal and visual comfort inside highly
glazed office buildings. A visual contact with the outside through the shading devices provides
essential signals to the occupant about his environment. The objective of this study is to evaluate the
visual contact with the outside through different types of shading devices. This paper presents the
preliminary results of a first campaign realized on nine fabrics of different colors and openness factors.
Fabrics were evaluated by fourteen human subjects in two outdoor test cells by means of
questionnaires. Results clearly show the preponderant impact of the openness factor and color of the
fabrics on the visual contact with the outside. A dark‐colored fabric with openness factor of 3% shows
similar performance as a light‐colored fabric with openness factor of 10%. It was also observed that
the classification method according to the European standard EN 14501 presents some limitations for
an accurate evaluation of the visual contact with the outside through fabrics, in particular those with
low openness factors. Further steps of the project are explained.
Keywords: Visual Contact; Shading Devices; Human Subjects; Questionnaires
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ZEMCH 2019 International Conference l Seoul, Korea